VIENTIANE: President Hu Jintao met Lao National Assembly President Thongsing Thammavong yesterday, and the two discussed efforts to promote bilateral ties and co-operation.

China and Laos have been friendly neighbours since ancient times, and recent years have witnessed the all-around development of the relationship between the two countries and two parties, Hu said.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese Government stand ready to work with their Lao counterparts to take their all-around co-operative relations of long-term stability, good-neighbourliness and mutual trust to a new height, said Hu.

For his part, Thongsing said President Hu's current visit would consolidate the foundation of Laos-China ties, boost their friendly and all-around co-operation and bring bilateral relations to a new stage of development.

Noting that China's National People's Congress (NPC) and the Lao National Assembly face the same task of fostering socialist democracy and strengthening the socialist legal system in their respective countries, Hu said it was important for the two sides to increase exchanges.

Lauding the existing good co-operative ties between the Lao National Assembly and China's NPC, Thongsing expressed the hope that the two sides would expand exchanges and maintain the high-level exchange of visits by the legislative bodies of the two countries.

Hu arrived here on Sunday afternoon from Viet Nam where he paid a state visit and attended the 14th APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation) Economic Leaders' Meeting.

Laos is the second leg of Hu's four-nation tour, which will also take him to India and Pakistan.

Source: China Daily